Toy torpedo.



no. 633,67]. Patented Sept. 26, I899. z. VALDEZ.

TOY TORPEDO. (Application filed Feb. 7, 1899.) (No Model.)

PATENT FFlC ZllIFERlNO VALDEZ, OF IJOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TOY TORPEDO.

.SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 683,671, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed February 7,1?99. Serial No. 704,865. (No model.)

To all whom it may con/c0771.-

against a hard substance and thereby produce detonation; and the objects of my invention are, first, to produce a toy that will amuse children; second, to provide a torpedo that will not only produce detonation, but will also give out luminosity as it rolls along and may give out a succession of detonations from one torpedo. I attain these objects by the torpedo described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which is a central section of my torpedo.

" In the drawing, A represents a clay ball; B, a preservative coating; 0, a fnlm'inating compound.

Clay is molded into small balls, which are thoroughly dried without artificial heat, as such heat has a tendency to make the clay too brittle and to cause holes therein. If the clay is brittle, the balls are too easily broken, and

if full of holes they absorb too much of the compound with which they are coated. After the balls are dry they are dipped in a preservative mixture B, composed of shellac and alcohol in the following proportions: onefourth pouud'of gum-shellac to one pint of alcohol. This is done to prevent the moisture remaining in the clay (it being impossible to dry it all out without too great a loss of time) from in juriously affecting the fulminating compound. This coating is then allowed to dry on the balls. They are then dipped in a fulminating compound 0, made as follows: One pound of gum-arabic is first thoroughly dissolved in one pound ofwater. In this mixture one pound of phosphorus is dissolved by a steam-bath and the mixture is allowed to cool. NVhen cool, one and one-fourth pounds of powdered chlorate of potash is thoroughly stirred into the 1nixture,which completes the fulminating compound.

The halls prepared as above are thoroughly coated with the fulminating compound and are placed in dry sand, in which they are against any hard substance with some force and on striking will detonate that portion of the fulminating com pound at the point of contact and will ignite the remainder, which will burn slowly as the ball rolls along. Should ,the hall strike another hard substance and the point of contact be covered with the fulminating compound, another explosion Wlll occur, and this will be repeated until all the fulminating compound is burned off the ball. It can also be used by gripping it tightly with the index-finger of one hand and then quickly forcing it out with the index-finger of the other hand in any desired direction. The friction occasioned thereby will cause the ignition of the fulminating compound on the ball, which will burn as the ball. flies through the air and give out a light like that of adischarged Roman-candle ball.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A toy torpedo composed of a central ball of clay surrounded by a coating of fulminating compound composed of the following ingredients, viz: gum-arabic four parts; phosphorus four parts; and chlorate of potash five parts.

2. The herein-described toy torpedo, comprising a ball of dried clay forming the center thereof, a coating of gum-shellac surrounding said ball of clay, a coating composed of gum-arabie four parts, phosphorus four parts, .and chlorate of potash five parts surrounding the coating of shellac, and a coating of shellac on the outside thereof.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name, this 31st day of January, 1899, at Los Angeles, California.

ZEFERINO VALDEZ.

\Vi tnesses:

G. E. IIARPHAM, W. M. (JAswnLL. 

